An alleged gambler, who jumped into a pond to evade the cops at a village in Malda on Monday evening, died by drowning.

The incident prompted villagers to demonstrate in front of the local police outpost for hours. Eventually, it was withdrawn after senior police officers went to the spot and spoke to the agitators.

Sources said that a group of persons had gathered at a mango orchard at Pirpur village in Sovanagar panchayat under the Englishbazar police station to gamble illegally. A team of the local Milki police outpost raided the area to stop the gambling and also chased the men.

The gamblers fled to escape arrests. Some even jumped into a nearby pond.

Sheikh Sattar, 45, among those who jumped into the pond, drowned. His body was found floating after some time. The villagers rushed him to a local health centre where doctors pronounced him dead.

As the news spread, angry villagers walked up to the police outpost and held cops responsible for the death of an “innocent villager”.

Aklima Bibi, Sattar's daughter, said he was a migrant worker and had come home recently.

She claimed that her father was not even involved in gambling.

"My father was simply crossing the location. Seeing the police personnel running after some people, he panicked and ran too. Then, he jumped into a pond. He didn't know how to swim and died,” said Aklima.

As the protests continued, senior police officers from Malda went to the spot. They spoke to villagers and assured them of a probe. After around one-and-a-half hours, the blockade was lifted.

Cops recovered the body and sent it to the Malda Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem. An unnatural death case has been filed. “Further steps will be taken after we get the post-mortem report,” said an officer.